British troops who have suffered severe injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan are to receive much greater compensation, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.

The move follows mounting criticism over the decision to pay troops with life-changing injuries - such as brain damage or the loss of limbs - a fraction of the amounts awarded to civilians with similar injuries.

A private paralysed from the neck down is entitled currently to a maximum lump-sum payment of Â£285,000, together with an annual income of Â£20,000, under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. A civilian who sustained similar injuries in a car accident could expect to be awarded at least Â£2 million.

It is thought the new, improved payments - which will be welcomed by campaigners and the families of injured soldiers - could push up the lump sum by as much as three times.

The move was disclosed to this newspaper by General Sir David Richards, the Army's second most senior officer, who said that the Government "shares the view that the compensation package is not quite right".

Gen Richards, giving his first interview as commander-in-chief of land forces, added: "I can reassure you that there is an acceptance in the Ministry of Defence, not just in the military, that this whole area needs re-examination." ...

Old-Salt

Why oh why oh why oh why are damaged soldiers only worth 200,000 /600,000 and a damaged civvie 2 million....is the General known as being a master of understatement?

The move was disclosed to this newspaper by General Sir David Richards, the Army's second most senior officer, who said that the Government "shares the view that the compensation package is not quite right".

'There is much to learn from the British: their reticence about disclosing details, their clear expertise in human intelligence, their non-hysterical reaction to very real threats. Many Americans may have an inferiority complex about things British -- the refinement, the style and, of course, those accents' -